LEGO Mindstorms robot battle inspired by DIY printer

Earlier this year a fellow by the name Shubham Banerjee created a LEGO project that went viral. Banerjee is a 12-year-old inventor – he created the “BRAIGO”, a Braille printer made using a LEGO Mindstorms set. This idea inspired LEGO Systems to create a competition in which several Seattle companies were invited to compete, creating a LEGO Mindstorms robot to improve everyday life.

This competition went by the name of “Build 4 Good”, hosting several of Seattle’s “most innovative companies” including HTC, Nordstrom, Xbox, zulily, Egencia, Expedia, and Amazon. Competing for glory on the 10th of April. Held at the EMP Museum, this competition had LEGO bringing in Banerjee to be one of its judges.

Awarded at this competition were five LEGO Mindstorms kits which would be donated to a local children’s charity of the winners’ choice. The judges panel named the Nordstrom crew winners with their robot that made it easier to dispense medication.

Below you’ll see the LEGO Mindstorms EV3, the device with which the BRAIGO was made and one which LEGO continues to sell to the public today. Item code 31313 in the LEGO set collection, LEGO Mindstorms EV3 comes with 601 pieces, 550 of which are LEGO Technic elements, a touch sensor, color sensor, and an infrared sensor.

Above: EV3 in the box. Below: EV3 out of the box.

This machine is able to be constructed and re-constructed into countless different forms and is able to be controlled by an infrared sensor system and programmed with PC or Mac software. This software works with an icon-based drag-and-drop programming system easy enough for youngsters to understand and work with. EV3 will cost you a cool $349.99 out in the wild right this minute.